Blog #18- To write something ‘new and exciting’!

There are a lot of people who have the common misconception that story is no good if it uses existing tropes and generic plots genre savvy readers are so used to seeing by now.

If people were to be more self-aware, then they would figure out that most popular works are basically re-skinned versions of our favourite overall narratives. Whether it is a quest to save the world or a more personal story, cliches are bound to happen.

However, there is a difference between good cliches and bad ones. The bad ones tend to be an observation of something that is 'tsundere' and then thinking it's totally reasonable to make a character of this character archetype without considering how it fits in with your story. The 'cute girl warming up to you, the main character' is fantasy all otakus fall into once in a while and is something they'd like to read in their fiction. What they don't want is cardboard box with no humanity that turns them this way.

The 'over tv trope analysis' effect happens when you know about a trope but don't seem to understand that it can't be easily added to a story just because you know it exists. Take the Toradora anime as an example: The heroine of the series isn't violent and abrasive because 'that is her archetype', but because there are multiple facets to her life which ended up shaping her to fit that archetype.

Although tropes themselves are like gears in a story that keep the plot moving, the only way to truly write a good story is through 'translating' them to fit the setting and theme of the story your writing.

If you can't add a trope in a way that influences your reader's feelings in one way or another, then it's better not to add it in the first place. After all, no one wants to read an abbreviation of a trope no matter how many creative gimmicks you add on top of it.

Think of Isekai as an example. Though it's become a trend in the community to send people to another world just to replicate how other authors create a sense of immersion for their readers using it. There is a massive difference between the likes of 'In Another World With My Smartphone' and 'Re:Zero In Another World'. The former only using the barebones skeleton of the trope while the latter completely taking advantage of everything the trope entails through adding an element of realism to the story.

The whole reason Natsuki Subaru is well remembered isn't because he's the perfect protagonist but because the writer of the story fully utilised everything about the trope instead of using it just for superficial immersion from a 'normal human from Earth' being transported into a fantasy world.

There is a feeling of 'perfection' added into the story not because it is the perfect story, but because the tropes it added were 'perfectly utilised' to tell the story the Author wanted to tell. Some could say a story isn't fully immersive due to lack of specific explanations and whatnot. However, they miss the point and end up not realising that a good story is one that influences the reader in specific way rather than trying to eat more than it can chew.

Take Steins/Gate as an example: If you were to ask the question of why a satellite that crashed into a building not investigated by the authorities as soon as it happened, then the rest of this thrilling time-travel story falls apart. Contrarily, by focusing more on characters instead, it was able to make the people watching the Anime ignore this plot hole to the point everyone considers it a masterpiece (unlike its dumpster fire of a sequel that was badly written).

Intrigue could be the result of contrived situations such as very specific 'coincidences' happening just for the sake of moving the plot. This may sound bad to do on paper, but it actually helps a lot in making a story more immersive if foreshadowing is done correctly. Other than that, you could say that any story has a certain level of contrivances in it if you looked at it deep enough... My point from saying all this is that contrivances are fine if it is character driven. As long as you know what you are trying to write and have the guts to make artistic choices with how much information you'd keep back or tell the readers, then you'll do great as a writer.

I brought this up many times, but I myself once write an Isekai and purposefully left out the main character's name, looks, and even where on Earth he lived before reincarnating into another world. It was an artistic choice no one understood at first but as they read more of it, the fact that I chose to put emphasis on the most defining traits of his past life while only adding how it changed his decision making skills in his second life did wonders later on.

Let this be a lesson to you all. Even 'Art' can't be about everything. The tools and colours you use is what will define it once your done. No story is liked by all audiences, but that doesn't mean your own story won't be liked if you don't follow 'trends'.

In fact, it's the opposite. The more you try to appeal to everyone, the more generic your story will become. It's best to know what your trying to write, have faith, and only edit once many chapters are done since it is impossible to see if your story is good or not unless you write ten chapters or more.

Well, that's all I got. My point is stop having anxiety attacks and write with a vision in mind before trying to adapt to your audience. Be flexible, but not cowardly, as you NEED to have you own opinions.

Have a nice time writing~! 😀